Morningstar Investment Management LLC Invests $143,000 in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EC. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,028,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after buying an additional 192,785 shares during the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,605,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Quantamental Technologies LLC boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantamental Technologies LLC now owns 19,329 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 34,415 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the period. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EC shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ecopetrol in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.40 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. UBS Group lowered Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $12.50 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock remained flat at $9.23 during mid-day trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 521,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,259,755. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.09 and a 200 day moving average of $10.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.59 and a 52 week high of $17.60.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 billion. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 19.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 20th will be issued a $0.1479 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 19th. This represents a yield of 20.4%. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is currently 53.23%.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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Ecopetrol SA engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Transportation and Logistics, and Refining and Petrochemicals. The Exploration and Production segment deals with oil and gas exploration and production activities.